7 Evidence-Based Tips to Manage Stress & Anxiety

Summary

In this insightful video, the host discusses the challenges of stress and anxiety, sharing evidence-based tips from renowned psychologist Dr. Judy Smith. The host's personal journey with stress is candidly shared, alongside seven actionable strategies to better manage these emotions, including using distancing language, identifying emotions with a feelings wheel, heeding early warning feelings, avoiding personalization, dropping mental filters, building mindfulness, and creating a self-soothing box. The video also highlights the importance of therapy and introduces BetterHelp as a resource, offering a 10% discount for viewers seeking support.

Takeaways

• 📝 Writing down thoughts starting with 'I'm having thoughts that...' can help create emotional distance and reduce distress.
• 🧠 Dr. Judy Smith's advice emphasizes the importance of using distancing language to manage stress and anxiety effectively.
• 🎭 The 'Masken' analogy illustrates how thoughts can influence our perception and personality, and the importance of not giving them too much power.
• 🔄 'Spin the feelings wheel' is a technique to identify and articulate specific emotions, aiding in better understanding and addressing emotional states.
• 🚨 Using feelings as an 'early warning system' can help identify underlying issues in life that may need attention before they escalate.
• 🔍 'Pausing the personalizing' means recognizing the cognitive bias that attributes external events to oneself, which can lead to unnecessary stress.
• 🌫 'Dropping the mental filter' involves being aware of the tendency to focus on negative aspects and consciously shifting focus to positive elements.
• 🧘‍♂️ 'Mindfulness muscle' refers to the practice of staying present and training the mind to focus, which can be achieved through activities like meditation.
• 📦 The 'self-soothing box' is a collection of comforting items and activities that can be used to self-regulate and soothe emotions during stressful times.
• 📚 Journaling is highlighted as a powerful self-help tool for managing stress and anxiety, and for gaining clarity on life goals and desires.

Q & A

What is the main topic discussed in the video script?

The main topic discussed in the video script is managing stress and anxiety, with advice and tips from a world-famous psychologist, Dr. Judy Smith.

What is the first actionable tip provided by Dr. Judy Smith for dealing with stress and anxiety?

The first actionable tip is to use 'step back language' or 'distancing language' when writing down thoughts that cause distress, to create a mental distance and reduce their power.

Can you explain the concept of 'step back language' as mentioned in the script?

The concept of 'step back language' involves starting sentences with phrases like 'I'm having thoughts that...' or 'I'm noticing the thought that...', which helps in recognizing thoughts as just thoughts, not facts or definitive narratives.

What is the 'feelings wheel' and how can it be beneficial?

The 'feelings wheel' is a tool invented by psychologist Robert Plutchik that helps individuals identify and articulate specific emotions they are experiencing, providing a more nuanced understanding of their emotional state.

How does the script relate the film 'The Mask' to our thoughts and their impact on us?

The script uses the film 'The Mask' as a metaphor to illustrate how thoughts can become like a mask that changes our perception and personality. By creating distance from these thoughts, we can see them for what they are and reduce their power over us.

What is the significance of the 'early warning feelings' mentioned in the script?

The 'early warning feelings' are initial signs of stress or overwhelm that, if listened to, can serve as a warning system for potential problems in our lives, prompting us to take action before issues escalate.

What is 'personalizing' and why can it be harmful?

'Personalizing' is a cognitive bias where we assume that events happening around us are our fault. This can lead to unnecessary stress and misery by attributing negative events or actions of others to ourselves.

How does the script describe the 'mental filter' and its effects on our perception?

The 'mental filter' is a cognitive bias that causes us to focus more on negative aspects of our experiences, disregarding positive ones. This can contribute to stress and anxiety by creating a more negative view of the world.

What is the purpose of the 'mindfulness muscle' as discussed in the script?

The 'mindfulness muscle' refers to the mental discipline of staying present and focused, rather than letting thoughts wander. It is likened to a gym for the mind, helping to build the ability to notice and control where our attention goes.

What is a 'self-soothing box' and how can it help with stress and anxiety?

A 'self-soothing box' is a collection of strategies, activities, and tools that provide comfort and help soothe an individual during times of stress or anxiety. It can include items that engage the senses and create a feeling of safety and calm.

What is the role of journaling in managing stress and anxiety as suggested in the script?

Journaling is presented as an effective self-help tool for managing stress and anxiety. It can provide mental clarity and help individuals figure out what they want to do with their life, as well as process their emotions.

Outlines

00:00

🤔 Managing Stress and Anxiety with Dr. Judy Smith's Advice

The speaker introduces the topic of stress and anxiety, acknowledging their personal struggle and recent interview with renowned psychologist Dr. Judy Smith. They discuss the importance of evidence-based strategies for managing these emotions. The first tip shared is 'step back language,' which involves distancing oneself from thoughts by framing them as mere thoughts rather than facts. This technique helps in reducing the power these thoughts hold over us. The speaker also shares their own experience with elevated stress markers due to work and personal life, emphasizing the need for active stress management.

05:00

🌀 Spinning the Feelings Wheel for Emotional Clarity

This paragraph delves into the concept of the 'feelings wheel,' a tool for identifying and understanding one's emotions more precisely. The speaker explains how some people struggle to articulate their feelings beyond basic emotions like happy, sad, or angry. The feelings wheel, developed by psychologist Robert Plutchik, helps in identifying more nuanced emotions, which can lead to better understanding and management of one's emotional state. The speaker also mentions a partnership with BetterHelp, an online therapy platform, suggesting that professional help can be beneficial for those struggling with mental health issues.

10:02

🚨 Using Early Warning Feelings to Detect Life Stressors

The speaker discusses the idea of using early warning feelings as a signal for potential problems in life. They emphasize the importance of listening to these initial feelings and not dismissing them as trivial. The speaker shares personal experiences of feeling overwhelmed and stressed due to work and upcoming book releases, highlighting how these early signs of stress can compound over time if ignored. They also mention the value of recognizing and addressing these feelings to prevent further escalation into more serious issues like burnout.

15:02

🔍 Avoiding Personalizing and Filtering Negative Thoughts

The speaker addresses the cognitive biases of personalizing and mental filtering, which can exacerbate stress and anxiety. Personalizing involves attributing negative events or actions to oneself, leading to feelings of guilt and self-loathing. Mental filtering, on the other hand, is the tendency to focus on negative aspects while ignoring positive ones. The speaker provides examples of how these biases can distort reality and contribute to negative mental states. They encourage viewers to be aware of these biases and to consciously focus on positive aspects of life to counteract them.

🧘‍♂️ Strengthening the Mindfulness Muscle for Stress Relief

In this paragraph, the speaker talks about mindfulness as a tool for managing stress and anxiety. They explain that mindfulness involves focusing on the present moment and not letting thoughts run wild. The speaker shares Dr. Julie's personal experience of using mindfulness during stressful periods, such as focusing on the sound of footsteps while running. They emphasize that mindfulness is not a passive activity but an active practice that requires effort to maintain focus. The speaker also mentions the benefits of meditation in enhancing mindfulness and improving mental health.

🎁 Creating a Self-Soothing Box for Emotional Support

The speaker introduces the concept of a 'self-soothing box,' a collection of strategies, activities, and tools designed to provide comfort and soothe during stressful or anxious moments. They describe how this box can include items that engage all the senses, such as music, perfume, or even tastes that evoke feelings of safety and comfort. The idea is to use these items to create a sense of safety and calm in the present moment, helping to manage stress and anxiety effectively.

📚 Journaling as a Powerful Self-Help Tool for Mental Health

The speaker concludes by highlighting journaling as a powerful self-help tool for managing stress and anxiety. They mention a separate video that provides an ultimate guide to journaling for better mental health and clarity. The speaker encourages viewers to consider reaching out for help if they feel they are not coping and emphasizes the importance of talking to others about their struggles. They end the video by thanking viewers for watching and suggesting further resources for support.

Keywords

💡Distancing language

Distancing language involves using phrases that create a separation between oneself and their thoughts, such as starting sentences with 'I'm having thoughts that' or 'I'm noticing the thought that.' This technique helps individuals recognize thoughts as separate from reality, reducing their emotional impact. In the script, this is explained as a way to see thoughts for what they are, similar to how Jim Carrey's character in 'The Mask' sees the mask at arm's length.

💡Feelings wheel

The feelings wheel is a tool invented by psychologist Robert Plutchik that helps individuals identify and articulate their emotions more precisely. It lists various emotions that one might experience, providing a vocabulary to better understand and express feelings. The script describes how using the feelings wheel can help pinpoint specific emotions, like distinguishing between general sadness and more specific feelings like powerlessness.

💡Early warning feelings

Early warning feelings are initial emotional signals that indicate underlying issues. By paying attention to these early feelings, individuals can address problems before they escalate. The script highlights how recognizing minor stress or overwhelm early on can prevent burnout and stress, as seen in the personal example of the speaker's experience with creating YouTube videos.

💡Personalizing

Personalizing is a cognitive bias where individuals attribute external events to themselves, often in a negative way. This bias leads to unnecessary stress and anxiety by assuming that negative outcomes are one's fault. The script uses an example of waving to someone who doesn’t respond, leading to thoughts that one must have offended them, even though there could be many other reasons for their lack of response.

💡Catastrophizing

Catastrophizing is a cognitive distortion where individuals imagine the worst possible outcomes of a situation. This type of thinking exacerbates stress and anxiety. The script mentions how a breakup might lead someone to believe that all future relationships will fail, a form of catastrophizing that can be detrimental to mental health.

💡Mental filter

A mental filter is a cognitive bias where individuals focus only on the negative aspects of a situation, ignoring the positive. This skewed perspective can lead to increased stress and anxiety. The script discusses how the speaker often fixates on negative comments on their videos, disregarding the positive feedback, which negatively affects their mood.

💡Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the practice of focusing on the present moment, which helps in reducing stress and anxiety. It involves consciously directing attention and not letting thoughts wander uncontrollably. In the script, mindfulness is described through the example of Dr. Julie focusing on the sound of her footsteps while running to stay present and avoid overthinking.

💡Self-soothing box

A self-soothing box is a collection of items or strategies that help an individual feel safe and comforted during stressful times. It can include sensory items like music, scents, or tastes that evoke positive feelings. The script suggests creating a self-soothing box to manage stress and anxiety by using senses to create a feeling of safety.

💡Therapy

Therapy is a professional service that provides individuals with strategies and support to manage mental health issues. The script mentions BetterHelp, an online therapy service, highlighting how therapy can help people navigate life’s challenges, whether they have a specific diagnosis or are simply experiencing stress or anxiety.

💡Journaling

Journaling is the practice of writing down thoughts and feelings to understand and manage them better. It helps in organizing thoughts and can provide clarity on one’s emotional state. The script concludes with a recommendation for journaling as a tool for managing stress and anxiety, pointing to a video guide on how to incorporate it into daily life.

Highlights

Stress and Anxiety are common emotions that can be managed with evidence-based techniques.

Dr. Judy Smith provides advice on navigating emotions through an interview.

Writing down distressing thoughts can help manage them by creating mental distance.

Using 'I'm having thoughts that...' can reframe how we perceive our thoughts.

The film 'The Mask' illustrates how thoughts can influence our perception and personality.

The Feelings Wheel helps identify and understand specific emotions more granularly.

BetterHelp offers online therapy services to improve emotional health outcomes.

Early warning feelings can signal underlying issues in our lives.

Personalizing events can lead to unnecessary stress and negative self-perception.

Catastrophizing thoughts can escalate into unrealistic negative outcomes.

Mental filters can skew our focus towards negative aspects, ignoring positives.

Mindfulness is like a mental gym, training us to stay in the present moment.

Meditation is a powerful tool for enhancing mindfulness and mental health.

Creating a self-soothing box with comforting items can help manage stress.

Journaling is an effective self-help method for managing stress and anxiety.

The importance of seeking help from others in addition to self-help practices.

Transcripts

hey friends welcome back to the channel

so Stress and Anxiety are very real

emotions for basically everyone and

there's something that I've personally

been struggling with over the last

couple of months and so I recently

interviewed world famous psychologist Dr

Judy Smith to try and get some

evidence-based advice and tips for how

to navigate these emotions a little bit

better a really simple technique might

be okay if you're lots of those thoughts

are causing you distress writing them

down but not only writing them down

starting that sentence with I'm having

thoughts that or I'm noticing the

thought that so you're immediately

you're kind of priming your mind for

this is a thought I'm not writing a f a

few months ago I did a blood test and it

showed that I've got elevated stress

markers based on things that are going

on at work and also my personal life and

so dealing with stress is something that

I'm actively working on right now and Dr

Julia's advice has been so helpful so in

this video we are going to discuss seven

actionable evidence-based steps that you

can use to better manage Stress and

Anxiety tip number one step back

language okay so stepb back language or

distancing language is all about using

language that creates some sort of

distance between us and our thoughts a

really simple technique might be okay if

you're lots of those thoughts are

causing you distress writing them down

but not only writing them down starting

that sentence with I'm having thoughts

that or I'm noticing the thought that so

you're immediately kind of priming your

mind for this is a thought this is not

I'm not writing a fact I'm writing a

thought or a perspective or the story

I'm telling myself is or the narrative

currently is those kind of beginnings of

sentences can just help to give you that

extra arms length so that you can see

that thought for what it is and and just

something as simple as that can take

some of the power out of it now I really

like this technique because you're not

ignoring your feelings or invalidating

them you're allowing them to exist but

you're not taking them as seriously or

as sincerely as you might otherwise have

done and there's a really nice way of

thinking about this based on the film

The

masken now the main character Stanley

ipus finds this old mask and when he

puts it on it completely changes his

personality when the mask is on he can

only see the world through the mask and

our thoughts can become like this mask

where if we hold them too close to us

they can color our perception of the

world and they can change our

personality and all that bad stuff but

with a little bit of practice we can

learn to get some separation between

ourselves and the mask and it's like in

the film when Jim Carrey takes the mask

off he and like holds it at arms length

he sees it for what it is like this

wooden husk of a thing and he's like

hang on like why was this thing is this

the thing that I've given so much power

over myself tip number two spin the

feelings wheel you know some people are

in touch with their thoughts processes

so you'll ask them what they feel and

they'll say well I'm thinking that and

they're kind of reeling off the thoughts

to you or you know you'll ask them what

emotion is present and they'll say well

actually I've got butterflies in my

tummy or I'm really tense and so they're

more in touch with the physical

Sensations and emotion and it's all part

of the same experience right and I think

I mentioned the book about it being kind

of it's almost like weaves in a basket

they're all aspects of the same

experience but you don't necessarily

experience the weaves you experience the

whole basket and so you get this kind of

sensation you don't necessarily have

words to describe that and and when we

separate it out into thoughts physical

Sensations emotions some people just

don't have the vocab to give granularity

to you know they might have happy sad

angry frustrated but they might not have

the vocab to kind of give that any

Nuance right so this is what a feelings

wheel looks like and it's a great

technique that I've personally been

getting a lot of benefit out of and the

idea is that you look at the words

around the wheel that describe various

feelings and you ask yourself which of

these feelings am I experiencing right

now or you can ask yourself which of

these feelings have I experienced over

the last let's say 2 weeks so if like me

you sometimes have feelings and you're

not exactly sure what they are then

having a look at a feelings wheel can be

a really helpful way of being like being

able to identify what the specific

feeling or emotion actually is now the

feelings wheel was invented by

psychologist Robert plik and it helps

you get more specific about what it is

your feeling if you're feeling really

happy for example you can follow the

wheel and maybe identify that what

you're really feeling is proud and then

Pride might actually be confidence

you're doing a good job and work and

things are on track but this also works

for more negative emotions if you're

feeling sad for example you can get more

granular and see that actually what I'm

feeling is despair but even deeper down

from despair you might realize that

you're feeling powerless and then you

can think about why that might be maybe

you're stuck in a job that you hate and

that's what's getting you down or you've

got your exams to take and you feel like

you can't do much to change the outcome

all of that would lead to a feeling of

powerlessness and being able to say I

feel powerless instead of just I feel

sad can often help you find better

Solutions because sad is kind of vague

and often difficult to change but when

you say you're feeling powerless that

has tangible steps that you can

potentially take and in fact researcher

Dr wox has found that the better we are

at talking about our emotions the better

our health outcomes seem to be and the

better we seem to be at regulating our

emotions as well if you're interested in

potentially finding someone to talk

about your emotions with then I'm

delighted to say this video is a paid

partnership with better help better help

is the world's largest therapy service

and it's 100% online with better help

you can tap into a network of over

30,000 credential therapists to get

started you just ask answer a few

questions about your preferences when it

comes to therapy and this way better

help can match you with the right

therapist from their Network and then

you can talk to your therapist however

you feel comfortable whether it's by

phone or by text or by video call and

regardless of whether you have a

specific mental health diagnosis like

depression or anxiety or anything else

or if you're just a human living in this

world who's going through a hard time

therapy with a professional can often

give you the tools that you might need

to navigate life you can message your

therapist at any time and you can always

schedule appointments whenever is

convenient for you and if your therapist

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help you get the same professionalism

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to betterhelp.com Al abdal that's B TT R

hp.com Al abdal and if you use that link

which is also in the video description

then you will get 10% off your first

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much to better help for sponsoring this

video tip number three early warning

feelings so one interesting way of

approaching our feelings is to use them

as a sort of early warning system for

other problems that might be happening

in our life and sometimes those early

feelings can be the most valuable right

when we listen to them so I think we

have to you know listen to our emotions

as we would listen to any message and

hold it lightly you know except that

it's okay this is one possible version

of this reality and that it's the first

feeling I got so I'm going to hold on to

that and I'm going to also stay open to

other perspectives or the rest of

experience and so just because it's not

not the one truth doesn't mean it has to

be completely disregarded you know there

are lots of really valuable things that

aren't the beond an endle so it's you

know holding it as valuable but

realizing that if we blinker ourselves

and only look at that as the possible

truth we're really restricting ourselves

there and you can really go down a hell

hole in some ways if your thoughts are

distressing or painful and that kind of

thing and in particular in my life the

way that I've personally been struggling

with this literally over the last few

weeks is kind of feelings of

meaninglessness and I guess anxiety and

burnout and stuff when it comes to for

example making these YouTube videos I've

been doing this thing for over 6 years

now and especially with my book coming

out which you can pre-order down below

if you feel like it especially with my

book coming out there's been a lot of

stuff that's going on with podcasts and

the YouTube channel and the business and

all this kind of stuff and it's felt

pretty stressful and overwhelming at

times and early on in the process I sort

of felt like ah whatever I can push

through like you know it's not like I'm

a coal miner like what do I like what

right do I have to potentially feel

stressed or feel overwhelmed I'm just

making YouTube videos on the internet

for God's sake but since actually seeing

a therapist myself and then also doing

that interview with Dr Julie I've

realized that these feelings are things

that we shouldn't really ignore because

even a minor niggle of stress or

overwhelm when when you're doing

something repeatedly is a thing that can

easily compound over time and there are

so many creators and entrepreneurs who

have spoken to about this who say that

they should have recognized the early

warning signs of overwhelm or of burnout

because they could have done something

about it rather than just think of it as

something to power through tip number

four pause the personalizing now

personalizing is a cognitive bias where

when things happen we're very quick to

assume that those things are our fault

so let's say you're walking down the

street and you see someone you know on

the other side of the street so you wave

and you say hi and they don't you you

feel like they've seen you but they

don't wave back and then your brain goes

straight to that thing I said the other

day must have offended her she must hate

me everyone must be talking about me I'm

so awful what was I thinking how could I

say something like that and and you go

down this kind of spiral yeah and if you

kind of get the bird's eye view from

that scenario they we could sit down

here and scribble out 10,000 Reasons Why

that person might not have smiled but

you go down this hole of kind of

self-loathing and so you're you're

taking an event that could have lots of

explanations or could be fairly neutral

and you're making it about you and often

in a negative way that is kind of

painful or hurtful to you so you kind of

personalize stuff now personalizing can

be a very natural response because it's

so easy for us to focus on ourselves and

the way other people interact with us

but if we jump to too many of these

conclusions about ourselves being the

sole cause of I don't know actions or

feelings around us then that can make us

pretty stressed and miserable and any

way personalizing is a type of

catastrophizing which has become quite a

buzzword these days but there's a lot of

truth to it like imagine you were going

through a breakup for example you might

feel hurt and alone but instead of

seeing this as the end of one

relationship if you catastrophize and

personalize then your mind tells you

that if it didn't work out with this

person then all of your relationships

are going to fail and that no one's ever

going to love you and then things

escalate to the point where you're

convinced that you're going to die alone

but obviously this is not reality these

anxious thoughts spirals can feel so

real when we're going through them in

the moment but we need to remind oursel

that setbacks are a part of life and

just going through one of them doesn't

mean we're going to continue getting

that same setback over and over again

tip number five drop the mental filter

now the mental filter is again something

that our mind does that shows us the

world in a way more negative light I did

a video on this actually where I used

like a big tray like a big cender type

thing um and I put kind of different

sized beans in to show kind of different

types of thoughts and the mental filter

is often you get this a lot with

depression actually where the good

things that happen for example or

thoughts about things that could

actually make you feel a bit better tend

to get filtered out and kind of

disregarded and left and then what

you're left with to focus on is all the

stuff that makes you feel worse and the

negative stuff now this is something

that I'm personally very guilty of all

the time for example instead of focusing

on all the positive comments that you

guys very kindly leave on the videos I

will often scroll through and I'll be

like I'll disregard all the positive

comments and I'll see one negative

comment and then that comment is the one

that I'm thinking about for hours and

sometimes even days maybe sometimes even

weeks at a time which is just really

unhealthy and not particularly helpful

and you might have noticed this in your

own life as well like let's say you're

doing an exam and you know you you the

mind fixates on the questions that we

know we got wrong rather than all of the

hopefully more questions that we got

right and this Mentor filter is

something that used to be very useful

back in the day like you know our brains

are survival machines and they've

evolved to make us very aware of any

Potential Threat to our survival so back

in the day when you're worried about

whether you might get mauled by a lion

or whether you might get ostracized from

your tribe and therefore get mold by a

lion the mental filter for negativity is

very helpful because you're hyper aware

of like anything you say that the

village Elder might misconstrue and then

end up kicking you out of the tribe or

anything in your environment that can

potentially be harmful but in the

current world that we're in where we're

not fighting for our survival and we

don't really have those sorts of risks

the Mind hasn't yet evolved to take that

into account and so it's always hyper

aware of anything that potentially

negative in the environment around us

which then obviously contributes to

stress and anxiety in a somewhat

needless fashion and so naturally the

key here is to recognize that this is in

fact a cognitive bias that this negative

mental filter does exist and to remind

ourselves consciously to pay more

attention to the positive things in our

life not just the negative ones and if

you're interested in getting a positive

thing in your life every Sunday you

might like to check out my completely

free email newsletter that's called

Sunday Snippets basically every Sunday I

send a short email with some thoughts

for the week you know stuff that I've

been thinking about stuff I've been

reading and learning and some links to

things like books and articles and

videos and podcasts that I found

particularly valuable there are over

400,000 people that get this completely

free email every week and it's totally

free you can unsubscribe anytime so you

might like to check that out by heading

over to ali.com suunday or hitting the

link in the video description tip number

six the mindfulness muscle and again

mindfulness is a bit of a buzzword in

the mental health space but there seems

to be this idea often if you Google

images of mindfulness that it's all

about taking a hot bath or like lighting

a candle or doing your skincare routine

and it can absolutely be all of those

things but the real value of mindfulness

is that it's all about focusing on the

present and not allowing our thoughts to

run wild now in Dr Julie's case she

talked about how she would use

mindfulness during stressful periods of

her life she'd go for a run in the

afternoon and as she would run she would

set herself the task of just focusing on

the sound of her footsteps on the path

and this can sometimes be really

difficult because the mind loves to

bring us back to all of the things that

are stressing us out it's not that you

have this goal of ultimate focus and no

other thoughts distract you and you know

a kind of Monk style kind of image you

know that stereotypical thing that that

people think of it was more that I chose

I constantly made a choice about where I

was going to place my attention in those

moments and that gave me you know for

this sort of half hour jog or whatever

it was it meant that I chose not to

worry for that time I chose not to

overthink everything I knew I couldn't

do anything about it right I'm out in

the nether Forest running so I chose to

just focus on the Here and Now for that

time it was in those sort of micro

moments a little break for my brain but

it was work in a sense that I had to

keep bringing my attention back and

that's the thing is mindfulness isn't

sort of an indulgent rest you know it's

not like deep

relaxation it's it's almost gym for the

mind so you're building that mental

muscle to be able to notice where your

mind is notice if it's helpful for you

or not and then bring it back to now now

mindfulness is something that we all

need to work on this whole idea of

staying in the present moment and not

letting our thoughts run wild it's

something I personally do struggle with

because I often find myself you know

with my mind wandering and apparently

meditation is really helpful for this

there are so many studies that show that

meditation really helps with mindfulness

which is great for mental health I've

been trying to incorporate meditation

into my life I haven't quite figured out

a way of actually doing it every single

day but it's something I'm actively

working on just because the benefits of

meditation are so huge and tip number

seven the self soothing box now Dr Julie

talks about this idea of creating for

yourself a self- soothing box which is

like this proverbial box of strategies

and activities and tools that bring you

comfort that help soothe you that you

can use as a sort of self-help literally

technique if you exper experiencing

stress or anxiety or any anything like

that it's the idea that it's kind of

mindful to say you use all of your

senses to um to help create that feeling

of safety and that's really what you

want to do is bring a sense of safeness

to the moment it might be a piece of

music that that you know kind of

generates certain feelings for you or it

might be a perfume that you associate

with love and safety like um your mom's

perfume or lavender or something like

that or it might be something that you

can taste that you enjoy that kind of

brings you to the present or lots of

different things so you can use all

different sentences so you can put

different things in a box to kind of

soothe you through difficult moments so

these are seven evidence-based

strategies that I've personally been

finding quite helpful as a way of

managing stress and anxiety and various

different parts of life if you need any

more help and support when it comes to

your mental health I'll put links to

some really helpful resources down in

the video description and if you do feel

like you're not coping then do please

consider reaching out to someone for

help self-help is all very good and

obviously I'm a huge fan of it but it's

really helpful to be able to talk to

other people about the struggles that

we're going through but speaking of

self-help one of the most effective ways

I've personally found of managing my own

Stress and Anxiety is journaling and if

you're interested in how you can apply

journaling to your life you might like

to check out this video over here which

is my Ultimate Guide to journaling for

better mental health and mental Clarity

and to help figure out what you actually

want to do with your life so thank you

so much for watching have a great day

and I'll see you in the next video

bye-bye